Drug spending in Canada hits $30B

From CBC News:
Spending on prescription and non-prescription drugs in Canada reached an estimated $30 billion, or $836 per person, last year, but the rate of increase is slowing significantly, according to a report.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information said total spending in 2009 rose by about $1.5 billion over the previous year, but that 5.1 per cent increase was "the lowest annual growth rate observed in more than a decade."

The institute's annual report on drug expenditure lists spending trends for prescribed and non-prescribed drugs by province and territory and whether the spending was by government-paid drug plans or private sources. It also includes international comparisons.

In 2009, drugs accounted for the second-largest share of total health care after hospitals — 16.4 per cent of the country's total $183-billion health-care bill, or about $30 billion. Hospitals consumed about $50 billion. ...more